Funerary Beliefs

In the Pyramid Texts (PT), the words ia, “ascend”, “(ascendant) tomb”, and sia, “cause to ascend”, are determined by the signs of the “niched” mastaba and the “pyramid trunk”, while the words derived from the root qrs, “bury”, “sarcophagus”, as well as the word HAt, “tomb”, are determined by a “vaulted” sign, which is to be identified with a sarcophagus even though it can also evoke a tomb. The root ia/sia speaks about an ascendant-solar symbolism, ritual and tomb; the root qrs speaks about a chthonic funerary tradition. When the PT were first carved, the royal and ascendant funerary building was the pyramid. The following paper questions whether this textual reality expresses a historical and architectural reality in existence prior to the pyramid age. The author relates the discussed determinatives to the First Dynasty funerary buildings in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab mastabas) and North Saqqara (niched mastabas and the “pyramid trunk” of the mastaba 3038).

While analysing some cartonnage fragments found in tomb KV 40, my attention was caught by a peculiar decorative pattern, consisting of a band of yellow mandrake fruits painted onto the broad collar of the remains of an 18th-dynasty mummy mask. The presence of this decorative pattern on an object intended for the tomb does not have a self-evident explanation. During the New Kingdom, there is a profusion of mandrake plants and fruits within Egyptian art: these occur in the representations of gardens on palace, tomb, and temple walls, they also decorate several types of objects, such as cosmetic spoons, mummy masks, coffins, and pottery. In the framework of Egyptian love poetry, mandrake has a specific meaning, its fruits evoking an erotic nuance and being associated with female breasts. Conversely, with regard to the funerary context, mandrake fruits have a different value and meaning, which will be investigated in the present paper.